


dielectric breakdown

by nonbinarywithaknife (littleboxes)



Series: just let them REST alex [20]
Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: (it's not relevant really but i love him <3), Azu (Briefly) - Freeform, Canon Asexual Character, Canon Non-Binary Character, Fluff, Getting Together, Oscar Wilde (Briefly) - Freeform, Other, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:22:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26481115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleboxes/pseuds/nonbinarywithaknife
Summary: dielectric breakdown is a process that occurs when an electrical insulating material, subjected to a high enough voltage, suddenly becomes an electrical conductor and electric current flows through it.
Relationships: Celiquillithon "Cel" Sidebottom/Zolf Smith
Series: just let them REST alex [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1514891
Comments: 16
Kudos: 38





	dielectric breakdown

**Author's Note:**

> its been so long since ive written any rqg stuff but i had to get it out of my system. Them... <3

Cel is distracted from their cloudwatching with Azu by a loud, “ _Wilde!_ ” from the deck, and they don’t have to look to know it’s Zolf. They look anyway, because it’s Zolf, and sure enough he’s got his hands on his hips and from what of his face they can see that isn’t covered by beard, blushing madly. Wilde looks totally unrepentant, and doesn’t appear to have actually stopped talking. 

They’re interrupted from further analysis of how Zolf looks- he’s a very attractive man, and not just because of the scars Cel knows it would probably be rude to ask about even though they’re so _curious_ , especially because of what little they know about his adventures- by Azu clearing her throat. 

Cel smiles, and jokes, “You’re _sure_ they aren’t together? I mean…” except instead of a casual joke their voice comes out a little more disappointed than they intended, and Azu is very perceptive, and now Azu is _looking_ at them. Ah. 

“I have not known either of them for very long, but I am… reasonably sure they are not together. Hamid might know better than I do, though. Would you… like to talk about it?”

Cel pauses. Their thoughts don’t, of course, but most of their thoughts at the moment are of all the banter that passes between Zolf and Wilde, and how it’s extremely likely Zolf was the one who healed Wilde’s scar, and how Wilde likes Harrison Campbell novels, and how even if they aren’t together, Cel’s been alive long enough to recognize pining when they see it (like in the mirror) so really, is it even fair-?

“You did say that a fear of imminent explosions was the core of quite a few of your relationships,” Azu says, nudging them gently in the shoulder. 

“That’s- that is true, and from I’ve observed Zolf _also_ has a fear of imminent explosions, and we are on a quest to save the world, but, I’m not _sure_ , I. I’m not sure what kind of relationship I’d want to have with Zolf, but…”

“But you _do_ want one?”

“Ah. Yes-”

“Well,” Azu says, clapping her hands together, “There you go! All you have to do is tell him that, and either he will say he does too and you guys can work out your relationship together, or he says no, and you will both handle it like mature adults, or he says maybe, but I doubt he will say maybe!”

* * *

“I’m just _saying_ , Zolf, you’re the one whose always on about staying positive, and being happy, and what’s more hopeful than starting a relationship at the end of the world?” Oscar says, and Zolf tunes him out, because it’s his shift to steer the ship, and that’s what he’s going to do, not listen to his _deeply annoying_ (cheerful) friend nag him into stupid decisions. 

Because it _is_ a stupid idea, because Cel clearly supports him and _Wilde_ of all people getting together, and they were pretty clear about the kind of first impression he made (and they said they trusted him-) and that’d be fine because first impressions aren’t everything, if that weren’t what Zolf is just sort of _like_ , most of the time (when it’s been almost a year and the world is dying and there isn’t anything they can do but keep going, and his friends are _gone_ because he left them-)

Zolf tunes back in just in time to hear Oscar’s, “-and I know there are a few scenes from one of your Campbells you could take notes from-” and Zolf maybe yells at his friend a little louder than is explicitly necessary, and he glances upward at the crow’s nest in time to see Cel’s head turn toward them-

(-and he’s _not_ paying attention to where Cel is on the ship, that’s _creepy_ , they’re just very easy to notice, when they’re on deck, because the arcs of lightning almost seem to buzz in a _happy_ way when they’re around, and maybe Zolf understands that a little-)

and Oscar glares a little at him and hisses, “not _those_ , I’m not _that_ horrible, I meant like- in _Fog of the Heart_ , you heathen,” and. Oh. 

Well, now Zolf can feel his face heating up because in _Fog of the Heart_ Brianna and Edward (and he _still_ can’t believe Edward chose Brianna over Felix I mean _really_ -) had an extended picnic scene that included no less than twenty-five nicknames and ended with them one-upping each other by metaphorically comparing each other’s radiance with the sunset, and Zolf would be lying if sitting on a hill watching the sunset with Cel _didn’t_ sound appealing, but that’s not the _point_ -

Oscar sighs, and says, “I know you won’t do anything you don’t want to, but Zolf? It would be nice to see you happy.”

Zolf is left glaring at his retreating back, because _damn it_ , that’s a really effective way of getting Oscar to listen to him which is why he uses it so much, he’s not supposed to use it on _Zolf_. 

* * *

Zolf is in his quarters, pacing the (admittedly tiny) space, trying to psych himself up to go find Cel. He’s given up on practicing what he’s going to say, because all that did is convince him that this is going to be an absolute disaster, and it’s probably not going to be less of a disaster now that he’s stopped practicing, but who knows-

There’s a knock. He would yell for Wilde to go away, he’s made his point, but Wilde wouldn’t _knock_ , and maybe there’s more bloody magical nonsense, _fucking hell_ -

He opens the door, already starting to sigh and say he’ll go get Earhart, but it’s not Hamid or Azu standing there looking anxious, it’s _Cel_. 

“Oh. Uh. Is something wrong?”

Great! Zolf could probably count the amount of times he’s seen Cel this visibly nervous on one hand, fantastic.

“No! No, nothing’s wrong, everything’s great, actually, the Meerk had this great idea about how to build ship’s speakers, don’t have the materials but the theory’s fascinating, but that’s not what I’m here for, um. No! Everything’s fine. Can I come in?”

Zolf blinks, and steps back, gesturing for them to enter. 

His quarters are slightly smaller than Earhart’s, and are functionally a walk-in closet with a hammock, a desk, and a chest underneath the desk. No chair, because he does want _some_ room to move around, which Zolf curses because now they’ve just got to stand around awkwardly, and whose fucking idea was this, again?

“Okay. So, um, Zolf, you might be wondering why I, I’m even here- and that’s fair, you know, that tends to happen quite often with me- and before I say anything you are totally welcome to shove me out, completely fine, boundaries are very important, but communication is also important, you know, it’s important for every good relationship, and we’re all on this ship together for months, and so I have to say, that I have a great deal of affection for you, I mean, romantic affection specifically, and I would very much like to have a, well, a relationship with you, if that’s alright?”

Zolf, very inconveniently, finds himself utterly devoid of anything to say, and in the face of his silence, Cel’s face drops and then they paste on a smile, and they start to speak again, “-like I said, it’s no problem, I can leave now, terribly sorry-”

“Wait- er, I mean, me too,” and it’s probably the most inelegant thing Zolf’s ever said which is really saying something, and Cel stops, and Zolf finally pulls himself together internally and asks, “Er- would it be alright if I kissed you?” and Cel’s smile is wide and real this time and they say, “ _Yeah_ ,” and he has to pull them lower by their collar but he does it gently and they don’t seem to mind and it’s- nice. Very nice.

Cel pulls away and Zolf is pretty sure their soft grin is reflected on his own face, and they say, “You know, um, I’ve been told in the past that I can be a little- uh, energetic, you know, a little _too_ much like electricity, so if you-”

Zolf shrugs. “I’ve already got struck by lightning twice, what’s a third time?”

(This, of course, leads to Cel talking partially to him, partially to themself, about the statistical probability of that, but only after they’d kissed him again, and Zolf happily settles himself on the floor to listen, and tries _not_ to think about how infuriatingly smug Wilde is going to be about this, the bastard.)

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on tumblr [here!](https://nonbinarywithaknife.tumblr.com/)


End file.
